Machine gun cradle structure



July 4 1944- J. c'z. 'rRo'rTER 2,352,870

MACHINE GUN CRADLE STRUCTURE Filed April '10. 1940 l 2 Sheets-Sheet- 2JOHN G. THOTTER Patented July 4, 1944 2,352,870 MACHINE GUN CRADLESTRUCTURE John C. Trotter, Buffalo, N. Y., assgnor to Bell AircraftCorporation, Buffalo, N. Y., a corporantion of New York ApplicationApril 10, 19470, Serial No. 328,989

1 Claim.

In general, this invention relates to mounts for machine guns adapted tobe used in aircraft, and more particularly to a mount provided with arecoil dampening device, non-moving sight and trigger construction.

Of course, numerous mounts for machine guns adapted to be used inairplanes or the like have been used, but most of these mounts havepossessed undesirable features. Among other disadvantageouscharacteristics is the failure of the mounts to provide any meanswhereby a sight can be supported against vibration, etc. In addition,the mounts have been rather large which of course is a bad feature sincespace in an airplane is quite limited. Furthermore, the large size ofthe mounts makes operation of the guns by the gunner somewhat diiiicult.Moreover, as far as I am aware no mount has been used in which therecoil control device is so disposed that it can iit under the forwardportion of the gun thus conserving space.

l An object of this invention is to provide a mount or cradle formachine guns which does not possess the undesirable characteristics ofmounts heretofore used.

Another object of this invention is to provide a `mount for machine gunswhich carries a sight,

such asa telescopic sight which will not be subject to shock,vibrations, etc.

A still furtherV object of my invention is to provide a mount or cradlefor machine guns that carries a recoil compensating device which fitssnugly under the gun casing and which will readily compensate for therecoil of the gun.

And yet another object of my invention is to provide a device forattaching a machine gun mount in the fuselage or the like of an airplanewhich will permit the gun to fire through a 90 arc either above or belowthe horizontal.

In order to achieve the foregoing and further objects, `the inventionbroadly comprises providing a light weight mount that can be attached inthe airplane for swiveling movement and which is so mounted that the guncan be red through an arc at least 90 above or below the horizontal. Themount carries a single recoil chamber at the forward end thereof whichnts snugly under the gun casing, thus saving space and weight. Inaddition, the provision of a a single recoil chamber possesses certainadvantageous features over the employment of two or more such chamberssince it will prevent any danger of unbalance so to speak between therespective recoil control devices.

Moreover, there is associated with the cradle a support member which isadapted to carry a sight such as, a telescopic sight, and as the sightis supported by the cradle, there can be no movement of the sight uponring of the gun and the advantage of such construction will be readilyappreciated.

In the drawings in which the same numerals indicate the same or similarparts:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of my novel cradle for machine guns.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawings, and more particularly Figure I, there is shown amachine gun I supported by a light weight cradle designated generally 2.The cradle 2 supports handles H, recoil control device R, firing triggerT and sight mount S.

The cradle 2 comprises a pair of parallel tubelike' members 3 and aslide track casting 4 is attached to the rear end of each tube 3 and isprovided with an elongated aperture 5. A bolt 6 carrying a slide block 1is mounted in each slot 5 for rearward and forward movement. The innerend of each bolt is attached to the ma chine gun casing.

Secured to the rear portion of each track casting 4 is a tubular member8 and the outer ends of each member 8 are joined to a second tubularmember 9 which extends at right angles to the members 8. A verticalportion I0 is integrally formed with each end of the member 9 and a handgrip` II is tted over each vertical member I9; It will be manifest thatthe hand grips II and their associated parts form the handles H and arean integral portion of the cradle 2.

In Figures 2 and 4, it will be seen that each tubular member 3 projectsthrough a bracket I2 and each bracket is connected by a transversesupport I3. A yoke I4 is pivotally attached at its upper ends as at I5to the brackets I2 to permit the cradle to have arcuate movement. Thelower end of the yoke I4 carries a spindle I6 that is adapted to be ttedinto a socket within the body of the plane to permit the cradle to haveswiveling movement. When the yoke is mounted in the fuselage in theposition shown by the full lines, the gun I may be red through a arcabove the horizontal. On the other hand, by positioning the yoke in themanner lcoil control device R comprises a dampening chamber I'I:r thatispositioned between the parallel tubes 3 at their forward ends and fitsrather snugly beneath the casing of the machine gun I.

vmounted adjacent one of the handles II which The construction andoperation of the controlchamber I1 has been specically shown -and de-Vscribed in my co-pending application, SerialNo.

314,542 filed January 18, 1940, now Patent No.

2,309,807, which issued February 2`, 1943.

It will be noted that the outer end of the chamber I'I is formed with alateralsupport I8--that carries a cup I9 at each end. over the open endof the tubes 3.

As the recoil cylinder I'I is of the hydraulic type it lcarries apistonrod 20 formedwith an eyelet 2| at its outer end. .A bolt 22extends through the eyelet 2I and through apertures formed in the lowerend of arms 23 of a mounting bracket construction 24. Spacers 25 areinterposed between the eyelet .2| and the arms 23. The opposite or upper.ends of thearms 23 are secured to-the fore portion ofthe machine guncasing as indicated at 26. rIt will be readily appreciated therefore inview ofthe above descripgun I, byrfvirtue of its tion that the machineattachment to the cradle 2, is :free to have a forward and rearwardmovement in the cradle upon` ring of the gun.

It should `testressed a1; this timethat by em-VI ploying but a singlerecoil controlchamber which fits snugly beneath the gun casing,considerable space and weight is saved. In addition, it has beendetermined thatwhen `twofor-more recoil chambers are used there isalwaysthe chancey .mayv Ybecome unbal-` that the respective.. chambersancedfbut byemploying but a single chamber this danger is overcome. A

vAsI pointed .out above, an important feature ofythisfinvention is` theipr'ovision of av mount for a sight. In VFigure 4I it will be noted thatone of the brackets I2 extension/30. Attached to -theextension asindicated at 3| is-a horizontally projectingV member 32 which is curvedat its rear end as shown at 33Yand-isattachedtothe upper portion of oneof thegrips .I I. vSecured lto the horizontal por-r tion 32.by screws.34 isclamp v`35 in whichgis mounted. .a telescopic "sight, thesight -36is maintained :by screws 31. A Internalf. windage amd elevation reticlesof the sightare adjusted by meansof screws 38.

It .willbe seen that the sight` 3B is Ynotsubject Each cup I9 ts l isformed with a vertical 36. The position of` z recoilcontrolvdevice alsocarries a novel sightV about its pivot. by the linkage V5I K From theforegoing description, it will readily ried by the supporting 2,352,870shown by the dot-dash lines of Figure l, the gun to any shock orvibration since its support 35 is carried by the cradle I and is notattached in any way to the gun mechanism itself.

The gun assembly is also provided with a ring mechanism generallydesignated `by the letter T. This ring mechanism T includes a lever 50is connected by a suitable linkage 5I to a pivoted firing trigger 52.When it is desired to fire machine gun I, the lever 50'is movedrearwardly 'Ihis action is communicated to the trigger 52.

yappreciatedY thatY the present invention provid'es alight-'weightcradle to be used withVv machinegunsmounted in aircraft that in additionto having associated therewith a highly effective mount and ring triggermechanism. The recoil control device is so arranged that it vwill occupya minimum of space and4 increase the weight of the cradle and gun verylittle.VV Furthermore-the provision of a single recoil chamber preventsany danger of unbalance -which would be present in recoil controldevices possessing twoA or. more dampening cylinders. By having thesight V'carcradle rather than the gun itself, the sight will not besubject .to-any vibra-V tion, shock or the like. v

The construction is :relativelysimple in `con-` struction and can becheaply and easily manu.-I factured. Y

While I have 'shown and, described the plie-f-V Vierred embodimentrofrmyinvention, I. wish it to be understood that I do not conne ,myselfyto ther precise detailsV of construction rherein set Vforthy by way ofillustration, as it is .apparent that many changes and variations maybemade therein, by those skilledV in the art, Without -departing from thespirit of the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appendedA claim.

I claim: I

A machine gun portingf said sightingmeans whereby thesight of the gun,saidV supporting which forms the cradle, a bridge member rigidlyattached to said bracket and a handle ofthe gun, andk a clamp rigidlymounted on said bridge` member to which the sighting means is secured.

JOHN o. TROTTER.

mount comprising a cradle for, a gun, havingside .portionsand means ineach` portion for .slidably mounting a gunrfor move-.f mentrelative tothe cradle uponrecoil ofthe gun, Ya. handle for the gunV secured .to`the reargend-of.-. the cradle,. aV means for sighting the` gun, and;means supported wholly by thefcradle forsup-,iv

